Fire with Fire
by The All Real Numbers Symbol
Summary: Jefferson seeks out Tron and Yori with a message. Storybrooke is back, and Snow and Charming need help. No one can remember how they came back, or anything that's happened in the last year. As the Programs try and help their friends untangle what happened in the Enchanted Forest a year ago, a new threat looms: the Wicked Witch of the West. Sequel to People Like Us.
1. Chapter 1

XXX

* * *

 **Fire with Fire**

* * *

 **Summary** : Jefferson seeks out Tron and Yori with a message. Storybrooke is back, and Snow and Charming need help. No one can remember how they came back, or anything that's happened in the last year. As the Programs try and help their friends untangle what happened in the Enchanted Forest a year ago, a new threat looms: the Wicked Witch of the West. Sequel to People Like Us.

 **Rating** : T

 **Genre** : Adventure/Drama

 **Disclaimer** : "This is going to be quite the ride." - Zuse

* * *

 _Silicon Valley, San Francisco, California_

 _One year after everyone in Storybrooke was returned home_

Tron snapped awake and laid still, trying to figure out what had woke him. He sat up, but the room was dark. The house was quiet. All he could hear was Yori's breathing next to him in the bed.

But something had changed, he knew it.

After a few more minutes spent listening, he settled back down, convinced that there was nothing immediately wrong that he needed to be concerned with.

He couldn't shake the feeling, though, that something had changed.

 **~xXx~**

What had once been the guesthouse on the house that Kevin Flynn owned had become, through unofficial agreement, Tron and Yori's home after they arrived in San Francisco. Sometimes Sam stayed with his Dad, sometimes he stayed at his place, near the harbor. Quorra claimed to like the water view. Wherever Sam went, she usually was there.

Jet alternated his weekend between his parent's house, his apartment, and the house that his "older brother and sister" lived in. Of everyone, he seemed most able to take Tron and Yori's presence in stride.

"Well, up until the day Uncle Kevin disappeared, he used to tell me stories about you two." Was his only explanation one day when he was asked about it.

Ten days after the morning when Tron had been awakened in the middle of the night, everyone, the Bradleys, the Flynns, the Wards (for Tron still used his Cursed persona when needed; Encom, with whom he was a part-time contracted employee, only knew him as Trevor Ward, though the different last name had not stopped the ceaseless speculation on his relation to Alan) and Quorra were at Kevin's house for a cookout.

"A year and ten days since you two arrived." Kevin had seen that morning when he and Tron passed as the latter was on his way to work. Kevin had never taken back the title of CEO of Encom; that was exclusively Sam's domain these days. "We need to celebrate that you're both here."

"Did you ever meet the Princess who slept on a pea while you were in Storybrooke?" Quorra asked Yori. The two of them, along with Lora, were sitting at the picnic table in the backyard. Once Quorra had felt sure that Tron had conquered the part of him that was Rinzler, she had wanted to know everything about Storybrooke, where the characters she had read about had lived.

"If she was there I never found out who she was." Yori told her.

Kevin was trying to cook burgers, and Alan was standing nearby. "You I can do this without supervision." Kevin finally said.

"That's okay," Alan said, finally cracking open his can of beer. "I don't have much else to do."

"You're supervising again." Kevin retorted. "Hanging around like a mother hen."

"I wonder why we would do that." Alan replied dryly.

Sam and Jet were playing Frisbee golf with Tron, and losing.

"Who put this goal this close to the house?" Jet asked, looking at their next target. Sam had taken some time that morning to set up portable targets for them to play with.

"Well you were the one who was complaining about not wanting to traipse all over the yard." Sam pointed out. "Now I put the targets close together and you're still complaining."

Before the conversation could devolve into the typical bickering that was a frequent occurrence between the pair, Tron stepped forward and took aim at the target. As he was getting ready to throw his disc, there was a rushing sound, then a sliding one, and a man dressed like a well-to-do Victorian and in a top hat fell off the roof and landed on Tron.

There was a long pause as everyone took in what had just happened, then Jet spoke, "Okay, well, that's different."

"Jefferson!" Tron gasped when he finally caught his breath.

"Trevor." The other man replied as he scrambled to his feet and picked up his hat. "Thanks for breaking my fall." Jefferson reached out a hand and pulled Tron back to his feet.

"Jefferson!" Yori said. "What are you doing here?"

The Mad Hatter turned to face her and the rest of the group. "Well, I have a message. And as much as I hate being the Charmings' errand boy, they made me an offer that was too good to refuse. Also, they're less likely to leave trapped somewhere compared to my last employers."

"And what is your message?" Tron demanded.

"Snow White and Prince Charming sent me. They need your help." He said, glancing at Yori and Tron. "Storybrooke is back."

 **~xXx~**

"When did it come back?" Tron asked.

The cookout had been forgotten and the group had moved inside. The dining room table was big enough to accommodate everyone and it was where they had landed.

Jefferson didn't answer right away. He waited until Lora had set a cup of tea in front of him. "Thank you." He said as she went back to sit by Alan. He took a sip, then replied.

"Ten days ago." He said. "But the town is under a Curse again. No one knows who cast the spell, no one remembers anything about the last year they spent in the Enchanted Forest, and so far I'm the only one who has been able to leave, through my hat."

"Ten days ago." Tron repeated.

"You knew when it happened, didn't you?" Jefferson asked.

"I knew something happened early in the morning ten days ago." Tron said. "And that's all I knew."

Jefferson nodded. "They told me about your magic. I wondered if you had been aware. The Charmings need help." He took his hat and started to rifle around inside of it.

"Is that thing bigger on the inside?" Jet asked.

Jefferson didn't even bother to look up. "You have no idea." He pulled out a sealed envelope, which he handed to Tron. "Your engraved invitation."

Quorra leaned across the table. "Did you really go to Wonderland?"

"Yes."

"Did you like it?"

Jefferson glared at her. "I hated Wonderland."

"Not real high on your list of recommended vacation spots?" Sam asked.

"My recommendation is that you should stay the hell out of Wonderland." Jefferson said. He had finally managed to free a square wooden box out of the hat. "I was asked to deliver these to you also." He slid the box across the table.

Tron handed the scroll to Yori and opened the box. His eyes widened when he saw what was inside. "Where did you get these?"

"I was given them by an old acquaintance of yours." Jefferson said.

Yori saw what was in the box and gripped Tron's arm.

"What is it?" Kevin asked.

Tron lifted two discs out of the box. They looked as though they had been plucked straight out of the Grid. "Tell me where you got these," He demanded.

"Ten days ago, when Storybrooke came back, I was roused out of my sound sleep to find myself back in Storybrooke. Grace was still with me, thank heaven, because I don't know what I would have done if she had gone. When morning broke, David was at my front door. He wanted my help, asked me to leave town and start a search. He knew that you and Yori had stayed behind, and they didn't know who to trust, and he wanted to find Emma and Henry as well. So they are watching Grace and I set out to search. Hook is helping with finding Emma. While I was looking for the two of you I ran into someone else first."

"Clu." Yori said, her voice flat.

"I met him in Boston." Jefferson said. "I enlisted him to help me. Backed by the full faith and power of the kingdom, why not? He was the one who directed me here."

"Where is he?" Kevin asked.

"That's a bit of a rough question." Jefferson reached into his hat and again and pulled out a Boston newspaper, which he handed to Kevin. "Look at page A-eight."

Kevin flipped to the page and started to read. "Mysterious fire erupts in a computer store in the outskirts of Boston. Police suspect foul play. One body was discovered in the wreckage. Pending further investigation, the body is believed to be that of the store owner, Clem Melville…" He trailed off.

"Am I missing something here?" Sam asked.

"Clem Melville was what Clu went by under the Curse." Tron explained. "Just like how I went by Trevor Ward."

"So Clu's dead?" Quorra asked.

"It sounds that way." Yori said.

"He _may_ be dead." Jefferson corrected. "Come on Yori, you lived in Storybrooke long enough to know better than that. Remember what happened with Doc Hopper? No one's dead until you've seen the body. Sometimes they're not dead even after you've seen the body." The hatter nodded at the discs that Tron was still holding. "He was working on those when I found him. He was done working on them, actually. He wasn't really keen on sending them to you, but by the time he gave them to me to bring here, he knew the witch was coming, and didn't see where he had any other choice."

"The witch?" Alan repeated.

"The witch." Jefferson confirmed. "The Wicked Witch of the West."

* * *

 **[A/N:]** So...I was gonna wait a couple of day after I finished People Like Us to post this first chapter...but then I was too excited and wanted to go post it right away. Yep. Um notes! In this story Jet and Sam are good friends, but they are also Vitriolic Best Buds, too, so they spend a lot of time bickering with each other, sometimes just because they can.

One thing random aside I was supposed to mention at the end of People Like Us but I'm not sure I ever did is that Yori's name under the curse was supposed to be Yvette. she never used the name because she was never Cursed.

I hope you like the first chapter, and don't hesitate to let me know if something in the story isn't clear. Please review and tell me what you thought! I love feedback, it's a writer thing.

See you next time!


	2. Chapter 2

XXX

* * *

 **Fire with Fire**

 **Chapter 2**

* * *

"I'm sorry, I must have missed something," Sam said. "The Wicked Witch of the West? Green skin? Flying monkeys? That witch?"

"I would presume." Jefferson replied. "Though at this point I have been fortunate enough to not see her. And since I'd like to get home to my daughter I'd like to keep it that way."

Tron stacked the two discs on top of each other, and they stayed together. He growled unintentionally. "When did Clu decide he was sending these?"

"Last time I saw him, four…five days ago. We met at a café in Boston some three times or something after I started my search. His store was burned by the next morning after the last time I saw him." Jefferson said.

The Security Program set the discs down and pulled out the last item in the box, a black sash with a molded plastic dock for the discs.

"There's something else you need to know." Jefferson continued. "The Witch is looking for something, ingredients for a spell was Melville's theory. She was very interested in the discs, which is why Melville sent them along." He looked at Yori. "Do you still have the yellow feather I gave you?"

"Yes. I took it with me when we left Storybrooke. It was the first piece of another world that I ever had." Yori said.

"We don't know what else she was looking for, but she might be after that feather. It's a magic feather."

"Wait, what?"

"Turns out it can be used to create a magic portal."

"I spent a thousand cycles sitting in Clu's dungeon because you didn't tell me the random feather you gave me was magical?!"

"In the interest of total fairness, if I had known that it was a magical feather, I wouldn't have given it to you." Jefferson said.

"My hero." Yori muttered.

"Anyway, as I was saying, Melville never figured out what she intended to do with the items she collected, or what those items were. He did figure out that she meant to use them in a spell. Now. You look like you could use some time to think this over." Jefferson said as he stood up. "I can come back in a couple of days." He picked up his hat and tucked the newspaper back inside his hat. "By the way, Trevor, your magic… you didn't have magic before the Curse, did you?"

"No." Tron replied.

Jefferson nodded. "You weren't affected by the New Curse. It didn't drag you back to Storybrooke. That must have been your magic?"

"I suppose."

"Who did you ask to make that happen?"

"I talked to Mother Superior about it and she was able to help." Tron told him.

Jefferson nodded again. "That makes sense. That's the right answer." He stepped over to the middle of the floor and twirled his hat as he dropped it, opening a portal. "I'll see you soon." He said. Then he stepped through the portal and was gone.

 **~xXx~**

"I wonder how Clu managed this." Kevin said, turning the discs over in his hand. "They look exactly like the Grid discs."

"I wonder _why_ he did it." Sam noted, an edge in his voice.

"Maybe we can find out." Kevin said. He got up from the table and left the room.

Jet looked at Tron. "So, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know." Tron admitted.

Yori looked at him. "We could go back."

Kevin came back into the room with his laptop, which he opened and started typing away at.

Jet reached for the discs and took them from Tron's hands. The Program let him. Jet pulled them apart. "These are pretty cool. What holds them together? Rare earth magnets?"

There was no answer, and Jet wasn't really expecting one. Alan reached out and took one of the discs and was turning it over in his hands.

"Well, you don't have to make a decision now." Lora said. "Take some time and think it over."

Kevin closed the laptop. "She's got a point. Neither of you have to go back if you don't want to."

Tron was still silent. Yori was the one who said, "We'll think about it."

 **~xXx~**

Alan and Lora left shortly after that, and Tron and Yori retired to their house. Sam and Jet decided to hold a round of Space Paranoids in the basement. Quorra stayed, as well; while she had proved to be a good hand at video games, she preferred to goad Jet and Sam on while they played.

Sam had been dispatched upstairs to find beer. He had hidden a six pack in the garage last time he visited, and as he was heading back downstairs with the beer, he heard an exclamation of success form the living room. He paused and cautiously pushed the door. "Dad? You in here?"

Kevin was setting on the couch, with his laptop open. "I found what I was looking for. Jefferson was telling the truth."

"Based on how Tron and Yori reacted, I figured he was telling the truth." Sam said. "What did you find?"

Kevin grinned. "Security footage." He set the laptop on the coffee table. "Look at this."

The timestamp on the camera feed was date stamped from eight days earlier. The two of them watched the scene outside of a café. The camera view was wide enough to show part of the street and the opening of the alley on a far side of the café. For a few minutes, nothing happened, then a motorcyclist pulled up to the sidewalk in front of the café. He was dressed in black, with the only color in his outfit being the three orange lines that wrapped around the chest of his black jacket and the additional lines of orange down the sleeves. When he took off his helmet, they both saw that it was Clu.

Clu left his helmet with his bike and took a seat at one of the tables. Salt and pepper shakers as well as packets of sugar and sweeteners sat in a dish on the table. Clu observed the packets, then dumped the container out and began to reorganize them based on color.

Two minutes, passed, and then they saw Jefferson come out of the alley. He started when he saw who was sitting at the table. " _Melville_?"

" _You were expecting someone else?"_ Clu asked, putting the last packets away, now organized.

" _Well, yes. Trevor, maybe, or Yori. Probably both. Find one, find both."_ Jefferson said as he took a seat across from the Administration Program. " _Do you know where they are?"_

" _No, but I expect I can find out. Why are you here, Jefferson? You don't strike me as the kind who would willingly leave home to come all the way out here."_

" _It is true that I'd rather be back in Storybrooke."_

Clu paused. " _Really_?"

" _It's back,"_ Jefferson said with a nod. " _No one knows why. The Charmings are looking for help, which is why they dispatched me. They want Emma back, which Hook is helping them with. They also want Trevor and Yori to come back and help. I'm trying to find them."_

Clu nodded. " _I can find them. Give me some time."_

" _Can you find Emma as well? Shorten Hook's search?"_

" _I'll see what I can do."_

The footage ended. "It doesn't show much." Sam noted.

"Aren't you even a little curious as to what happened to bring the Mad Hatter here?" Kevin asked.

"Tron and Yori brought him here." Sam said.

"The catalyst, Sam, the catalyst. Why did he need them?" Kevin grinned. "Exciting stuff man. Watch the next one."

The next feed showed the same café, and was date stamped from three days after the first feed that they had watched. This time when Clu arrived, he had with him the wooden box that Tron had received earlier that day. He arrived first. Jefferson showed up a few minutes later.

" _Well_?" Jefferson asked as soon as he sat down.

Clu pulled a sheet of paper out of his jacket pocket and slid it across the table. _"The address I found for one Trevor Ward, Encom contractor, in San Francisco."_

" _Good_." Jefferson said. _"It's going to take me a little while to get a portal that will open there, but it can be done."_

" _When you go, take this and give it to Trevor."_ Clu slid the wooden box across the table.

" _What's this?"_ Jefferson asked.

" _Something I need to get rid of. Admittedly, in a perfect world, I wouldn't have to give to him, but better him then the witch_." Clu said, his tone matter-of-fact.

" _What witch?"_ Jefferson asked suspiciously.

" _The witch who walked into my store today. Sent her flying monkeys in first to clear the way, but, the Wicked Witch of the West walked into my store."_

The wooden box slipped through Jefferson's finger and landed on the table with an audible thud. _"What? Are you sure?"_

" _I can't think of anyone who would use flying monkeys. Her reputation in this world precedes her."_ Clu said matter -of -factly. " _She was very interested in those discs. She won't get them. That's not going to happen. What do you know about her?"_

" _Not much. Jumped through Oz once. Got out of there as quick as I could. She had…quite the reputation there as well."_ Jefferson said as he took his hat off. He looked around briefly, then, when he was sure no one was watching, shoved the box inside his hat.

"What are you watching?" Quorra's voice behind him made Sam jump.

Kevin hit the pause button. "Just looking at some security footage."

"Seein' what Clu was up to before he got killed." Sam said. "Why are you up here?"

"You were taking way too long to bring back the beer," Jet said, appearing in the doorway behind Quorra. "Why are you looking at that?"

"Seeing what we can find out, I guess." Sam admitted.

"Let's watch." Jet said.

Kevin hit the play button again.

" _Has Captain Hook found Ms. Swan yet?"_ Clu asked.

" _He's working on it."_ Jefferson replied.

Clu nodded. " _I have some information for him_." He slid another paper across the table. _"Tell him to go to this post office in New York and ask for a letter left for him under the name Killian Jones. He might find it useful."_

Jefferson nodded. " _What are you going to do?"_

" _Now that the witch has made me? The next move is hers. Don't worry about me. Worry about what she's after. She asked a lot of questions and was very, very interested in my discs. She had a scroll with her that I only got a glimpse of, but it looked like a spell. I think she's looking for ingredients for a spell."_ Clu said.

" _And you think she's going to use those discs in her spell?"_ Jefferson asked.

" _Nothing would surprise me at this point."_

" _You know a lot about magic."_

" _Yes, I've been studying up on it."_ Clu said as he stood up. Jefferson stood up as well. The two men looked at each other for a long moment, then Jefferson turned and headed back towards the alley.

Clu turned back towards his motorcycle, siding an iPhone in an orange case out of his pocket as he did. He glanced at it, then said, " _I've done all I can do. The witch is coming back_." He slid the phone back into his pocket. _"I'm not going to run from her."_ He put his helmet on, started the motorcycle up, and drove away.

"So, he knew she was coming." Sam said.

"He didn't run from it either." Jet noted. At the looks from Sam and Quorra, he added, "Look, I'm not saying he's a good guy. All I'm saying is that he didn't run, and he knew something was going to happen."

"Does it show what happened?" Quorra asked.

"There's one more video." Kevin said. He clicked forward to another file, this one dated the day after the last meeting between Jefferson and Clu and matching the date on the newspaper.

It was the same café. As before, Jefferson came around the corner and went to the table and sat down. The minutes ticked past, and Clu did not arrive. Jefferson began to look around.

A waitress noted him, and came over. " _Are you waiting for someone?"_

" _Yes. Do you have the time?"_

She glanced at her watch. " _It's two forty-four."_

" _He's late."_ Jefferson muttered. _"He's never late."_ He stood up and walked away, leaving the confused waitress staring after him. The clip ended as abruptly as it began.

"Those were the only three pieces of footage I found." Kevin said.

"And all it really does is prove that the Mad Hatter was telling the truth." Sam said.

"Do you think that Tron and Yori will go back?" Quorra asked.

Jet shrugged. "Who knows?"

* * *

 **[A/N:]** The exposition chapter! No real wham lines at the end of this one. In other news, I've gotten the first chapter of _People Like Us_ up on AO3. Man, HTML tags are a lot of work.

Anyway, I want to thank everyone who reviewed the first chapter. I was so excited to see what everyone thought! Atom king, I don't know that the whole Once crew will go there, but if this story goes the way I planned, we might see a glimpse of the Grid again. But I make no promises.

Please let me know what you thought of this chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

XXX

* * *

 **Fire with Fire**

 **Chapter 3**

* * *

"I like it. I think it's working well." Yori said, peering through the updated computer glasses. "Are you seeing this?"

"I am." Lora confirmed from the computer terminal she was sitting at. "The video feed is better then ever."

Improving Encom's computer glasses had been Lora's pet project for last six months, and Yori had cheerfully volunteered to help her. Technically, Lora was semi-retired, though she still liked to work on technology, and Sam had not objected to her puttering around the Encom labs and seeing what she could come up with.

Jet was still hiding in the gaming department, ignoring Alan's unsubtle attempts to force him into a higher position in the company and Sam's equally unsubtle hints that Jet could have a board position whenever he wanted one. He had a reputation as an excellent game designer and frequently reminded his father and his best friend that he was happy where he was. Today he was in the research labs, watching the field test of his mother's latest project. "So what do you think, Yori? Are you going back to Storybrooke?"

"I don't know. Tron and I have talked about it. We haven't decided yet." Yori said, looking at the waves in the bay. "Are you getting audio on the waves here?"

"A little. It's faint but we're picking it up." Lora confirmed.

"Are you sure you want to face down the Wicked Witch?" Jet asked.

"I think we're going to have to do whatever we have to do." Was Yori's noncommittal answer. "I'm going to head back to Encom, if you have what you need."

"I do." Lora confirmed. "See you in a few minutes."

When Yori got back to Encom, though, Tron was waiting for her in the lobby. "There's something I want to talk to you about. Lora said you were on your way back."

"When are we leaving?" Yori asked.

He looked stunned. "How did you know I wanted to talk to you about that?"

"I've seen you read and re-read that letter from Charming. You want to go back," she said.

"I do." Tron admitted. "I should tell Alan-One."

She pulled him down and kissed his scarred cheek. "You do that. Lora wants her glasses back so I need to take them back to her."

"I love you," Tron said.

"I love you too." She pressed the button for the elevator as Tron opened the door to the staircase.

* * *

There was a sound outside his office, so faint that if he had not learned to listen for it, Alan would have never known to open his office door and look into the anteroom. As he had expected, Tron was there, breathing hard, but so softly that it was barely audible.

"Did you run up sixty flights of stairs again?" Alan asked, and tried not to be exasperated. Tron knew what elevators were; he just didn't find them very useful.

"I stopped for breathers on floors twenty-five and forty." Tron said.

Alan shook his head and held the door to his office open so Tron could go in. As soon as the door was closed, he asked, "What's on your mind?"

"Yori and I are going back to Storybrooke." Tron said. Brutal honesty was a trait that he shared with his User.

"If that's what you want to do. You don't need my permission Tron. You can do what you want." Alan said.

"I wanted you to know."

The word "first," was left unspoken, but there was an understanding there, in that moment, between Program and User.

* * *

When Jefferson dropped out of his hat and landed in the backyard of the house, it was empty. Never a man to be put off by anything short of losing a loved one, he simply went to the back door of the house and let himself in.

Lora was waiting. "You're here."

He paused. "You were waiting?"

She steered him towards the dining room. "You need to talk to Tron and Yori."

"They're coming back?" Jefferson asked.

"They're coming back." Lora confirmed.

"Then I don't need to talk to them. I need to know when they're leaving." Jefferson told her. They had arrived at the dining room, just in time for Tron to overhear the end of the conversation.

"We're leaving soon." He said. Not only were he and Yori there, but so were Kevin, Sam, Quorra, Jet, and Alan.

"We're going to have a send off for them, though." Quorra said. "And we were wondering if you wanted to come."

Jefferson looked at her, and at Tron, and at Lora, and sighed. "You're not leaving until you're done with this send-off thing are you?"

"No, we're not." Yori said.

The Hatter sighed. "Fine. Let's get this over with so that I can get home to Grace."

"Stop acting so miserable." Yori instructed.

"It's not an act." He sighed.

"Let's eat where we can see the ocean." Quorra suggested.

"Cause we all don't see enough of it in Storybrooke." Jefferson noted. But he went with them as he had agreed.

They ended up at a plaza that, as Quorra had stated, showed the ocean. Stairs led up the restaurant, and at the bottom of the stairs, a wide bricked circle held tables and benches. The food was good and the conversation pleasant. No one mentioned the reason they were out enjoying themselves until the end of the meal.

"You'll take the computer glasses won't you?" Quorra asked Yori. "I want to see Storybrooke."

"If Sam and Lora don't mind that I take them." Yori said.

"I don't mind." Lora said, looking at Sam. He shrugged.

"It doesn't matter to me." Sam said.

"Take them then." Lora said, handing the case to Yori. The program opened the case and tucked the yellow feather she had gotten from Jefferson so long ago into it.

Quorra smiled. "I can't wait to see everything." She said.

Tron excused himself to go refill his drink as Jet turned to Jefferson. "Are you going back to Storybrooke too? Or Wonderland?"

"I'm from the Enchanted Forest originally." Jefferson said. "So I won't be going back to Wonderland. Thankfully. I will be going back to Storybrooke. It's not so bad there, when we're not all under a Curse. Or not under it, as the case may be."

"That seems- " Kevin started, but he didn't get any further before they all heard screaming. Lora dropped her fork onto her plate as she looked up and saw what was coming towards them. Sam, who to the day remembered what had happened to him in the Grid, was on his feet, as was Jet. Jefferson swore.

Coming towards them was a tall woman dressed all in black. She wore a tall witch's hat, and had green skin.

"That's not possible." Sam muttered.

"Looks like it is." Jet retorted.

The Wicked Witch came to a stop, and the flying monkeys that had been wreaking havoc nearby stopped, waiting for a signal from her. "You have something I want."

"Jefferson, get out of here!" Yori said shortly, and as if snapped back to the present, Jefferson jumped away from the table and took his hat off.

"What are you going to do about her?" He asked.

"We'll figure it out." Alan said. "If you want to see your daughter again, get out of here."

Jefferson nodded and dropped the hat twirling it as he did. The portal opened a moment later.

"Give me that hat." The Witch snapped, and pointed. The monkeys sprang forward as Jefferson disappeared through the portal, the hat folding in on itself and following him.

"It would be nice to have a disc right now." Sam sighed, before yanking a tablecloth off a nearby empty table and flinging it into the air. The first flying monkey got wrapped in it, and when he was certain it was unable to get out, Sam swung the monkey in the cloth out and hit the next one.

The Witch glared out from under her hat. The Mad Hatter was gone, and his hat with him, but there was another magic here she thought she could use. She glared at Yori, who was hurrying away with Lora.

Jet had been trying to get Alan away from the epicenter of the battle. There were too many bystanders caught in the crossfire, and little in the way of weapons. A screech behind him made him swing around to see a flying monkey coming towards them.

An activated disc flew by them, hitting the monkey square in the face. Tron had come out of the restaurant in time to see the attack of the flying monkeys, and when he had seen Alan and Jet threatened, he did not hesitate. He dropped his glass and ran forward, taking the new discs off his back as he did. Tron activated one and flung it off the monkey, and leaped off the stairs, landing in front of Alan of Jet. The disc flung the monkey back and recoiled towards him. Tron grabbed it and took off running towards the Wicked Witch, taking out the monkeys as he went.

Quorra had grabbed a chair and was using it as a blunt force weapon against the monkeys, fighting her way through them towards the witch also. But she was closer to the Witch to begin with then Tron had been, and when she got close enough, the Witch reached and gestured with her hand, and Quorra found herself lifting off the ground and choking in midair.

"Put her down!" Sam shouted.

The Witch smiled. Then she looked at Tron, who had come to stop, discs still in hand, when the Witch had picked up Quorra. Even the flying monkeys were still. "Drop your weapons." The Witch ordered.

Tron tightened his grip for a moment, then released the discs. They clattered to the ground.

The Witch turned to Yori. "You have something I want. A piece of magic."

Yori pulled the glasses case out of her jacket pocket and took the feather out of it. She slid the case back into her pocket and held it out. "Put Quorra down first."

"You don't get to tell me what to do." The Witch replied, and the phantom hand around Quorra's throat tightened.

"I don't trust you. So put her down." Yori repeated.

For a long moment it seemed like she wouldn't. Then the Witch released her hold on the ISO and tossed her away. "Satisfied?"

"Yes. If you want the feather, come and take it." Yori said, dropping it to the ground as she shouted, "Tron!"

The feather twirled through the air and hit the ground, and with a flash of light a portal opened. As the feather was falling, Tron scooped his discs up and slammed them back together as he raced towards Yori. The Witch ran forward as well, but Tron but got there first, took the hand Yori held out for him, and together they jumped through the portal. But the Witch was right behind them, and she made it in just as the portal closed.

* * *

 **[A/N:]** Alright, next chapter! So... I don't have much to say about this. I just guessed at how tall the Encom skyscraper was. I am...probably wrong. It being taller, though, might not make things any better, since that just means Tron would be running up more flights of stairs.

A big thanks to my reviewer from Chapter 2! Reviews make it worth writing, so if you made it down here, please let me know what you thought of this chapter.


	4. Chapter 4

**Fire with Fire**

 **Chapter 4**

* * *

Yori pushed herself to her feet, looking around as she did. The sky was dark, and towards the horizon were rocky crags and peaks. Lighting flashed in the clouds. Off in the distance she could see wreckage.

Wreckage that was covered in glowing lines.

She gasped. "The Grid." Or what was left of it. _But_ _why would the feather bring us here?_

Yori fumbled around, feeling her clothing to try and find the glasses case. Sam had installed a router in the Arcade a long time ago after Kevin had come home. She knew that. So maybe, she could make a call out, let him and the others know where they were…

Her analog-world clothes were gone, and her Grid suit had reappeared. But the glasses were still there, the case attached to her hip. She breathed relief and took the glasses out. She pressed a couple of buttons. _I hope you left the router on Sam_.

~xXx~

"I don't think we should have left so soon." Jet said as he hurried his parents into Kevin Flynn's house.

"Are you kidding?" Sam asked, following him with Quorra and Kevin. "You remember getting put through the wringer after the Curse of the Fountain of Youth. Do you really wanna go through that again? Except now with explaining why the Wicked Witch of the West showed up? Maybe while we're explaining that, we can just say she dropped by to see Tron since he's real too."

"It would be fun to watch Mackey faint." Jet contended. "I think he would, if he knew who Trevor really was."

"Do we have any way of tracking where they went?" Alan interrupted them.

"We can try cell phone tracking." Kevin suggested.

Lora's cell phone went off a moment later. "It's a Voice over IP call." She said.

"Like with those computer glasses." Jet noted urgently.

But Lora was already answering the call. "Hello?"

~xXx~

Back in the Grid, Yori sighed in relief. "Lora, it's me."

"Yori? Where are you?"

"I'm in the Grid. Do you have the app on your phone that lets you see through the glasses? I have the camera on."

"I do. Hold on." Lora tapped a couple of icons on her phone, keeping the call open while looking through her phone for the right app.

"Yori, what do you need us to do?" Jet asked over his mother's shoulder.

"I'm trying to find Tron. He must be around somewhere, but he wasn't with me when I woke up." Yori said. "I still have the feather, so I think we can get back out."

By now Lora had gotten the app open. Everyone crowded around her, trying to see the screen.

In the Grid, Yori was trying to find Tron. She didn't remember this particular location in the Grid; it looked like a long narrow peninsula. But there was no telling how much the Grid had been changed since they left, so she decided to not think about it and focus on finding Tron instead.

But in the other side of a slight rise in the land, she came face to face with the Wicked Witch. "Not her again." Yori muttered, looking around for a way out. She didn't want to leave again without Tron, so that ruled another portal out.

"Give me that feather." The Witch demanded.

"No!"

"I'm not asking you." The Witch replied. "I'm making a demand." She summoned a fireball to her hand and drew her arm back, ready to fling it forward. Before she could fling it at Yori, a black-clad figure came flying through the air, knocking the Witch forward and the fireball out of her hand. The figure landed on his feet, despite having had to turn a couple of times in mid-air.

Yori knew who it was; she recognized the energy signature as soon as he appeared. "Tron!"

He was wearing the Gridsuit he'd worn for cycles, both as the head of security for the Grid and then as Rinzler. The lines on his outfit were white. He retracted the helmet. "Yori!"

Before she could reply, the Witch was back on her feet. She flung a fireball at Tron, who ducked and rolled out of the way. "Run, Yori!"

The only way out was back towards the peninsula, so Yori headed back the way she had come. At the crest of the hill she paused to catch her breath and turned to look back.

The Wicked Witch of the West was trying her best to stop Tron, but it wasn't working well. He ducked, dodged, or jumped over everything she threw at him, in some cases making his jumps far more elaborate then they needed to be to simply avoid a fireball. He threw a disc at her, but she teleported out of the way and reappeared in the same spot, only to get knocked to the gourd as she had not expected the disc to return to it's owner.

There was swirl of dark smoke, and another figure appeared. This one also seemed to be male, as it was broad- shouldered and solidly built, but that was all Yori could see. Whoever it was wore an ankle-length black coat with the hood pulled up over its face. Black gloves and black boots were also visible. The only adornment on the coat was two dangling gold charms, and another touch of gold that looked almost like a medal.

The figure had barely arrived before it was in motion. It leapt forward, landing a solid punch on Tron's disc dock. Tron's circuit lines blinked out and back on as the security program stumbled away, trying to stay upright.

With Tron distracted, the Witch turned to face Yori. "I am going to take that feather." She threatened, striding forward.

"I am not leaving without my husband." Yori shot back, running towards the witch.

The cloaked figure took another swing at Tron, who rolled out of the way. When the figure came out him again, he lunged forward and rolled in front of the figure's feet, causing him to stumble and crash into the Witch.

Tron was back on his feet a moment later, and running towards Yori. He took her hand, and together they ran towards to the edge of the peninsula.

The Sea of Simulation was roiling below them. Yori tossed the feather off the edge, and together they jumped through the next portal.

~xXx~

The screen of Lora's phone went black when the pair vanished into the portal.

Jet let out a low whistle. "Now I know why the Mad Hatter didn't want to run into the Witch. Good night."

"Who was the person in the coat?" Quorra asked.

There was a long pause, then Sam spoke up. "That was Clu."

"Clu's dead, remember?" Jet asked. "The Witch killed him."

"The Witch was supposed to have killed him. But I think the person in the cloak was Clu." Sam replied.

"It could have been anyone, Sam. We don't have any proof that it was Clu." Kevin said. "We're just going to have to wait and see what develops."

Sam muttered something that sounded similar to "not that line again," and took a seat on a nearby chair. "Well, there you go. Tron and Yori are out of here, and the Witch is following them. Now what?"

Lora and Alan had been tinkering with her phone while the others were talking. The sound of a dial tone came through to the silent room a moment later. "Let's see if we can call them." Lora said. "We've got the app updated. Now we can call out, instead of waiting for incoming calls."

~xXx~

The computer glasses were facing a stand of trees when they came on. It was clear in California that they had been left on when Yori and Tron had gone through the portal, but no one was there.

A black boot, accented with a steel ring at the ankle, stepped into view a moment later, and Tron picked up the glasses a moment later. "Are you all there?" He asked.

"We are." Alan replied.

Tron folded the glasses up and hung them from the collar of his leather jacket, the lenses on them pointing out so that the camera faced forward.

"Where are you?" Kevin asked. The microphone on the glasses was only barely audible; the microphone had been on the bottom of Lora's to-do list while working on the glasses.

Tron looked around. "It looks like the forest in Storybrooke." He said. "I think we're back." There was a sound behind him, and he turned to see Yori burst out of the woods.

"Tron!"

She ran up to him and they embraced. When they pulled apart, he handed her the glasses. "Do you know where we are?" Yori asked.

Tron nodded. "I do." She took his hand, and they set off through the forest. Five minutes later, they came out to the electronics factory that Tron used to be a security guard for.

Tron crossed the driveway of the factory to the storage garage where he always used to park his motorcycle when he had worked at the factory and opened the door. A motorcycle, the exact copy of the one he and Yori had used to get to California, and had been his sole form of transportation for twenty-eight years under the Curse, was there.

"The Curse wanted us to come back." Tron said. "It expected us back."

"And we didn't show up, until now." Yori replied.

The Security program pulled his keys out of his pocket and looked at them. A key to his house in Storybrooke had reappeared.

"Let's go find out what happened since we left." He said.

* * *

 **[A/N:]** I kept getting asked if we would ever see the Grid again, and the answer to that is, yeah, kinda. A little. I don't think I described Tron's mystery attacker's clothes very well. Think of a black Nobody's coat from Kingdom Hearts II, but accented with gold and not silver. Because those coats are cool.

I've got a lot of stuff planned in my mind for where I'd like this whole series to go, so I'd just like to say right now that as far as this series is concerned, Season 6 Episode 15 ever happened. Making Jafar a one shot villain like that after the buildup in Wonderland was so dumb, and as a fanfic writer, I'm choosing to disregard that. But Jafar will be a long ways out from here.

I don't have much to say about this chapter other then I hope you enjoyed it, and thank you for the reviews, and please keep reviewing.


	5. Chapter 5

**Fire with Fire**

 **Chapter 5**

* * *

 **IMPORTANT NOTE** : FFN did _not_ send out any chapter update notices for Chapter 4. Chapter 4 did go up; I have checked and I can see it. Please read chapter 4 before reading this one. If you cannot see chapter 4, please let me know so that I can contact FFN and try to find out what happened. Thank you.

* * *

If it had been anyone other than Yori trying to ride behind Tron that day, they probably would have struggled to hold onto him while not getting cut by the discs on his back. But Yori had plenty of cycles of practice back in the Grid, and that made it easy for her. The trip to Town hall only took a few minutes, and as they pulled up, Regina and Emma were coming out of the building.

"Trevor, Yori, you're back." Regina noted.

"Didn't Jefferson tell you we were coming?" Yori asked.

"He …might have, but he was talking so fast it was hard to hear him." Emma said. "Anyway, we saw the flying moneys so we know it's a Wicked Witch."

"You mean Jefferson didn't tell you that either?" Tron said. "Because we found out today. That isn't news to us."

"No, the Hatter forgot to mention it." Regina said dryly.

Emma looked at them both. "I take it you got my parent's message then?"

"We did." Tron confirmed.

Emma took a deep breath and exhaled. "There's something you need to know. Henry doesn't remember anything about Storybrooke. When Hook came to New York and found us, he brought a memory potion, but there wasn't enough for Henry." Emma admitted.

"We're trying to find a spell to fix that, and for now we're trying to keep him from finding out about magic." Regina added.

Emma asked, "We'll see you bath at the station tomorrow, right?"

"Yes," Yori confirmed, and Emma and Regina went on their way.

As Tron and Yori walked back to the motorcycle, Quorra asked, via the glasses, _"Who were they?"_

"The dark haired woman is Regina, the Evil Queen from Snow White. The blonde is Snow White's daughter, Emma, and Henry is Emma's son." Yori said. "I'm turning these off now, Quorra."

"You'll call back later?" The ISO asked.

" _Yes."_

"Alright. Bye."

A redheaded woman was watching as Tron and Yori drove away. She said nothing and tried to stay out of sight. After she had dealt with the Dark One, kept caged in her storm cellar, she walked into the farmhouse and stood for a moment, looking at a man in a long black coat and boots, his face shrouded by the hood of the coat. "They're here. Those two …whatever they are." She paused, trying to remember the term. "Computer Programs."

"And how does this surprise you?" The cloaked figure asked, gloved fingers wrapped around the handle of a coffee mug as he stood at the kitchen counter.

"I want the feather that that woman has."

"I wouldn't count on getting it, Zelena."

Zelena smiled. "Oh, you think you know me so well. But I get what I want."

"You claim you want revenge on Regina and the Charmings even though you never explained how you know the Charmings or what they did to you. Now what, you think that taking the Wards on will be easier? Save you a little time? I could understand going after them if it would be easier, but as you should have learned today, it's not going to be any easier."

"One way or another I'm going to create that spell." Zelena insisted.

The cloaked figure ignored her and went on. "The other thing you need to know is that in the past, the Wards have been very good friends of the Charmings, and the Wards will probably be able to figure out who you are on sight, even when factoring in your…skin condition."

She glared at him. "The terms of our arrangement were that you were going to help me in this endeavor."

"What do you think I'm doing?" He retorted.

She smiled again. "Have a little faith." She said as she started towards the back rooms of the house. "I have it all under control."

He watched as she went out, and then looked at the black coffee in his cup. "You keep telling yourself that."

* * *

"Jefferson, why didn't you tell them about the Wicked Witch?"

Jefferson raised an eyebrow at the Programs standing in front of him. They had been finishing up breakfast at Granny's when Jefferson had walked in with Grace, and Yori had proceeded to drag him over to their booth to talk. Jefferson considered the question. "Um, because telling this place things they don't figure out on their own is a bad idea, Yori. Remind me again how long you spent in the psych unit here for doing that?"

"I would hope that in this instance people would be more willing to believe." Trevor pointed out.

"You can trust the town if you'd like, but I was awake for thirty years of the Dark Curse. I'm a little twitchy about these sorts of things." Jefferson pointed out.

The sound of Tron's cell phone going off interrupted them, and he checked his texts. "David and the others went to the Mayor's office to look for evidence, something that can help them locate the Wicked Witch. They have a lead, and Emma wants us to meet her near the toll bridge."

Yori nodded and looked back at Jefferson as Tron laid some money on the table to cover the bill. "They know now, Jefferson."

"They know because they've seen evidence, not because you told them." The Hatter argued as he walked back to Grace. He called over his shoulder as he did. "Have a nice day. You know where to find me if you need me. Try not to need me."

~xXx~

"A farmhouse. You have to appreciate the irony." Emma said. She and Hook had split up to cover one direction, while Trevor and Yori covered the other, but their path had converged on a hill that led to a farmhouse.

The growling rumble that never quite abated in Tron's throat suddenly increased in pitch, causing the others to look at him. "Do you do that a lot, mate?" Hook asked.

Tron ignored him and looked at Emma. "Do you remember the map of this town when you first came here and the first curse was broken?"

"Other than the main roads, not really." Emma admitted. "Why?"

"This farmhouse wasn't here during the first Curse."

"So…it must have come with the second one." Emma said. "Hook and I will check inside. Do you two want to check the perimeter? Wait, what's that? It looks like a storm cellar."

The group approached it, and Emma drew her gun as they did.

"Wait, wait, wait." Hook said, darting in front of her. "There's a difference between walking around a farmhouse and it's another descending into a one-way cellar with no way out."

"Scared?" Emma asked sarcastically.

Yori tugged on Tron's arm. "I think they need a minute." She whispered.

"I think they need longer than a minute." He muttered back.

"We need some magical backup, and unless you've been practicing in New York, we're going to have to get that from somewhere else." Hook said.

"Fine." Emma said, in the tone of someone who was giving in and not appreciating having to do so. "I'll call Regina." She pulled out her cell phone. "Wait, I've got a message from David." She listened to it. "He thinks he found the Witch. We've got to go back."

~xXx~

"Any particular reason she's send a demon that looks like you?" Hook asked as they walked through the forest. The group had stopped to get Regina and arrived too late to help David, who had already defeated his dark counterpart before they arrived. They were heading through the forest, trying to find any trace of the Witch or the monster she'd sent after David

"No idea. It was just wearing my face, harping on my deepest fears."

Regina paused and turned to face him. "It knew your deepest fears?"

"Yeah, things I've never told anyone, not even Mary Margaret." David admitted. This did not make Regina look any less concerned, so he went on. "It wasn't until I admitted my fears that I was able to defeat it."

"Where is it, your sword?" Regina asked.

"That's the strange part. When I killed it, my sword disappeared."

"What's that mean?" Hook wanted to know.

"When we face our deepest fear, our true courage comes out. When you used the hilt of your sword to vanquish your fears, your courage transferred into it." Regina explained.

Emma glanced between them. "She stole his courage?"

"Well, a symbol of it." Regina admitted. "And symbols can be very powerful."

There was a long pause, and then Tron said, his tone flat, "It's the spell."

"What spell?" David asked.

Tron and Yori glanced at each other, and Yori said, "When Jefferson came to find us, he said that he had found Clu-"

"Wait," Emma interrupted. "Who is Clu?"

"You knew him as Clem Melville." Tron replied.

Regina looked at them. "I was under the impression that Melville died in Boston in a fire. I remember reading about it in the _Mirror_."

"That's what we were told." Tron confirmed. "But Jefferson said that Melville thought that the Wicked Witch was working on a spell. Apparently he didn't get far in figuring out what the spell was before he was killed."

"Why would she need a spell? We're already Cursed again. What more could she do?" David asked, but no one had any answers.

Emma set her lips in a firm line. "Let's go back to the farmhouse and check out that storm cellar. We might find something in there that can shed some light on this mess."

~xXx~

"The lock wasn't busted before." Emma said as they looked at the door to the storm cellar. She pulled out her gun. Hook held his sword ready and Tron, his discs.

When David pulled the cellar door open, though, nothing came flying out at them. "That's a good sign." He said, as Emma and Regina descended into the cellar. He followed them in. Yori went next, leaving Hook and Tron looking at each other. Finally Tron reached down and picked up the lock, "So no one can lock us in," he said, and took it down with him.

The cellar was empty, but when David turned on the single bulb on the ceiling there was a spinning wheel visible in a cage.

* * *

 **[A/N:]** I feel like this chapter was dragging, but I always feel that way about Plot Development. I was doing a lot of writing on Saturday, and that's why the quick turnover for a change.

I can't think of anything I need to note about this chapter, so i will see you all next time. Please read and review!


	6. Chapter 6

**Fire with Fire**

 **Chapter 6**

* * *

 **[A/N:]** Still not sure if the chapter alerts are going out or not. Please let me know if you receive one or not. This is the third chapter I will have posted since I noticed that I was not receiving one. (FFN puts an author's stories on their own alert feed.)

* * *

"I was wondering when you were going to appear." The cloaked figure said.

"She didn't follow you, did she? I know she knows that the, uh, cage is empty, but that's all I need her to know."

"She doesn't know. And she gives so little credence to what I say I could tell her to her face what I was doing and I doubt she would believe me."

The other man snorted. "Don't be that crazy. Did you get it all taken care of?"

"I did." The cloaked man confirmed. "All of her winged monkeys have eaten some of the potion."

"Good. I want her to be embarrassed. So go for maximum exposure when you use it. And…what you wanted works?"

"It does." The cloaked man replied. "It might make it a little harder for her to kill me going forward. And on that note, have you considered the cost of doing this?"

The man paused, and looked uneasy. "It doesn't matter what happens to me. It matters if Henry and Emma are safe. That's what matters."

The cloaked man considered it, and nodded. "I need to get back. She's already missed you. I don't need her missing me. Yet."

 _~xXx~_

"Stroybrooke's boundary lines haven't changed." Tron said, examining the map that was pinned on the wall next to the whiteboard. His desk in the Sheriff's station was in a room that doubled as the conference room. Emma and Yori were sitting at chairs around the oval-shaped table between his desk and the far wall, which was still blank. Plans had been made to install a video screen on that wall, but nothing had happened yet.

"The farmhouse is here," Emma said, coming to join Tron and marking a spot on the map with her pen.

"And there's a lighthouse here." Tron replied, pointing out a spot at the very edge of the map, opposite the town line.

"But other than that, no changes." Emma said, dropping back into a chair.

"Any sign of Gold yet?" Tron asked as he retrieved his coffee cup from his desk.

"Nothing." Emma said. "You saw the Wicked Witch while you were in California. Have you seen her since?"

Tron and Yori both shook their heads no.

Emma frowned. "Belle had no ideas for us on how to find Rumplestiltskin. But she's keeping watch at the shop in case he comes back there. Hook is staying with her." She glanced at the Security Program. "Keep your phone handy. I might need you out in the field. I have to swing by and get breakfast for Henry."

 _~xXx~_

"So these things... are computerized?" Ruby asked, looking at the computer glasses.

"They are, and they are broadcasting right now." Yori said. She was sitting at one of the tables at Granny's. "There's a friend back in California who was really wants to see everything about this town. Her name is Quorra."

Ruby grinned, holding her tray by one hand so that she could wave. "Hi Quorra."

Out in California, Quorra was waving back, but neither woman in Storybrooke knew that.

"Where's Trevor?" Ruby asked.

"Back at the Sheriff's station, working through paperwork." Yori admitted. "Emma and David are off hunting for the Dark One. And Regina went back to the farmhouse to investigate it."

The bell over the door chimed and Tron walked in. Ruby was about to greet him cheerfully, but the look on his face made the words die in her throat.

He walked over to the booth Yori was sitting in and sat down across from her. "Emma found Baelfire." He said, his tone grim.

"And?" Ruby asked.

"Sit down." Tron said flatly, his voice deepening to a growl. Ruby slid into the seat next to Yori.

"Baelfire is dead." Tron told them. "And Rumplestiltskin told Emma that the Wicked Witch of the West has been masquerading as Snow's midwife."

Ruby's tray hit the floor. "Zelena-" She said, her voice sharp and high.

"Quiet." Tron fairly hissed at her. Other diners were starting to look at them.

Ruby dropped her voice to just above a whisper. "That woman who came in here all the time, pretending to be everyone's friend and so happy to be helping Snow was the Wicked Witch?!"

"Is the Wicked Witch." Tron corrected her. "Yes."

"It is strange that we never saw her." Yori said, glancing between them. "Tron, you and I have been here at Granny's at least once a day since we got back. And we never ran into her in all that time. I wonder if she stayed away so that we wouldn't recognize her."

Tron exhaled heavily. "I have to go. I have to help David and Emma bring Baelfire's body back. Ruby, you might want to let your Grandmother know to get ready for a funeral."

 _~xXx~_

It was a somber group that gathered at Granny's the next day. The funeral had been mercifully short, and Rumplestiltskin was conspicuous by his absence. No one wanted to guess what the man's reaction would be once he was free of the Witch's control.

Henry had been sitting by himself in a booth, but he looked up when Tron walked by with Yori. "Hey, where did you get those?" He asked Tron.

The Programs paused and turned back to look at him. "Get what?" Tron asked.

"Those discs, on your back." Henry said, referring to the pair of discs that Tron wore everywhere, the sash for them worn over his shoulder and tied at his hip in such a way so as to not cover up the tetramino design on his leather jacket. "They remind me of the ones in one of my favorite video games. Have you ever played the secret level of Space Paranoids? The one where you play as Tron and fight off a lot of evil programs by hitting them with your disc?"

Henry was talking too quickly, like he was nervous or looking for a distraction from the day's events.

Tron looked stunned. "I…can't …say that I have."

"Really? I thought that's where you got the idea for the design on your jacket too. I mean it looks a lot like what Tron wears in the game." Henry went on.

Both Programs were rescued from having to answer any more questions by Hook's appearance.

"I'd like a moment to talk to Henry." He told them. "By himself, if that's alright."

"That's fine." Yori said, tugging Tron away. They took seats at the bar as Hook sat down across from Henry and started talking.

Granny watched them sit and slapped a cup of coffee down in front of Tron. "Drink up. You look like you need it."

Tron did so, silently. On the other side of the room, Hook and Henry stood up and headed out the door.

Granny came by again to take their orders, and the quiet buzz of conversation continued on around them. Until the door open and the Wicked Witch came in.

"Did I miss the speeches? Should I make one?" She asked, gloating.

Conversations died in the diner as everyone listened to Zelena tell Regina they were half sisters and threaten her. "Meet me on Main Street tonight, at sundown." She looked around. "I want everyone to be there, to see the Evil Queen lose."

"I don't lose." Regina replied.

Zelena grinned. "Neither do I." She turned and walked out the door, laughing as she did.

 _~xXx~_

"Hello? Can you hear me?"

Yori sighed and pulled out the computer glasses, clicking the camera on as she put them on. "Quorra, now is not a good time."

"Really? Because I'm here with Sam and Flynn and Jet and Lora and Alan. We wanted to check in."

Yori looked down the row of businesses on Main Street, including a noticeably empty computer repair shop.

"The Witch stopped by Baelfire's wake today to threaten everyone. We're warning all the businesses on Main Street to be careful. Zelena – the Witch – wants a showdown here tonight."

"You can lock down Main Street all you want." Tron grumbled, coming into view as he exited the jewelry store. "But people are going to come anyway."

"Don't you think they might all stay home?" David, who was right behind him, asked.

Tron shook his head. "She threatened everyone while she was threatening Regina and told them all to be here tonight. They'll come because they're afraid."

"Listen," David turned to Tinker Bell and Belle. "There's three locations we can put people to have the street covered."

"I'll talk to Blue, see if we can get some reinforcements."

"Okay. If we can't get the fairies to help, or even if we can, I want you, Trevor, to take the crossroad at Morton Street. I'll cover Jacksonburg Pike. Tink, you can take the Clear Creek alley. If we do that we'll be in position to cover the whole street, and hopefully we can do it regardless of the backup Blue can give us. But I'm hoping she can give us some to strengthen our position."

Emma and Snow White had reappeared in time to hear the end of David's statement. "Wait, Zelena said no interference. She might order Gold to level half the block if we interfere before she has it out with her sister."

"They are sisters?" Tinker Bell asked.

"Regina found a letter in her vault that proves it." Snow said.

"Where's Regina?" David asked.

"She left. Something in the letter upset her." Emma said.

"And where does that leave the rest of Storybrooke?" Tron asked.

"We can't let her walk into this fight alone." David said. "She's going to get help whether she wants it or not."

"You just said we can't interfere." Belle pointed out.

"Since Zelena has Gold on her side we need to remove him from the equation. It's the only way Regina will have a fighting chance. We just have to get his dagger."

"I can try and get through to Rumple in spite of the dagger," Belle offered.

"It's worth a try." Snow admitted. "We can't let Regina do this alone."

"Sorry Quorra, we've got witch problems." Yori said. "I really can't talk to you all now." She finished, and then hung up.

 _~xXx~_

"I'll be going out this evening. Now that all of the little unpleasantries regarding Baelfire have been taken care of, it's time to put my sister in her place." Zelena announced that evening to her farmhouse at large, though her only audience was the man in the cloak who was sitting at the kitchen table. He did not respond, instead choosing to keep sipping his coffee.

Zelena didn't notice his lack of response. "I'll have to put extra care into my dressing this evening. A Witch should appear in style. You're coming tonight, so be ready by the time I'm dressed." She announced, then swept away into the back of the house.

The man in the cloak kept drinking and considered that Zelena was much more tolerable now that he'd started accenting his coffee with a splash of whiskey.

Of course, if he kept drinking it this way much longer, he might never be able to go back to black coffee again…

 _~xXx~_

"I told you people were going to come." Tron muttered to David as they along with Emma, Snow, Yori, and Tinker Bell approached a knot of people gathered in the middle of Main Street.

"Let's get them out of here before the Witch shows up." David said, and pushed into the middle of the group. "Listen up! Everyone needs to return to their homes-"

"No one is going anywhere." Zelena cut in. She came into view, followed Rumplestiltskin and the cloaked figure. "This show needs and audience."

She strode into the crowd, and the group parted for her as she approached. She saw Tron and Yori, and grinned at them. "You took something I wanted." She said, looking at Yori. Tron reached out and pulled his counterpart behind him. Zelena gave the Security Program a long look. "But I don't have time to take it now." She turned to Emma. "Where's Regina?" She smiled. "I knew it. She's a coward. But that's not good. If she isn't here in five minutes, I'm going to let the Dark One off his leash."

"No." Emma stepped forward. "If she isn't here in five minutes, you'll fight me."

"How cute. But I don't dance with amateurs."

"I'm not an amateur. I'm the savior." Emma retorted.

Zelena smirked. "Someone has an inflated ego." She nodded at Gold, who flung out a hand and sent Emma flying into Tinker Bell and Tron. David and Yori pulled her back to her feet and then helped Tron and Tinker Bell back up.

"Who wants to go next?" Zelena threatened.

"Me." Regina's voice rang out behind her.

As soon as Zelena tossed Regina through the clock tower and went after her, and the cloaked figure and Gold both vanished into magical smoke, David turned to Tron. "Get everyone out of here. We're going after Regina."

The last stragglers were clearing out of the square when something made Tink stop and look up. She gasped, and Tron and Yori looked up and saw the Wicked Witch, on her broom, flying away.

 _~xXx~_

The cloaked figure pulled the bottle of whiskey out of the cupboard and added a generous splash to his coffee as Zelena kept raging around house. Two mirrors had already been smashed, as well as a selection of dishes, an end table, and two chairs. She'd raged at Rumplestiltskin as well before she had entered the farmhouse and started smashing the furniture.

He took a long sip of the coffee and asked, "Are you finished?"

"No! I am not finished!" Zelena spat. "Regina hid her heart from me! How dare she!"

"How indeed." The cloaked figure muttered, but she didn't hear him and kept storming around the place.

"Are you ready to stop pouting and do something about it?" He asked.

Zelena paused and looked at him. "What are you talking about?"

"You need to do something to prove yourself to Storybrooke. Yes, they've seen you as a threat, but now you have to reinforce it for them." The cloaked man said.

She was interested, he could tell. "What did you have in mind?"

Under his hood, the man smiled.

* * *

 **[A/N:]** I can't remember anything that I was supposed to say about this chapter, except that this one was quite long, longer then I'd expected, actually. Please review and let me know what you thought of it!


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